Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Sharky's At It Again

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Old Etonian oil executive, Justin Welby, who is popularly known as "Sharky", is backing a new Baptism servicewhich doesn't mention sin or the devil.

Satan?

In the existing rite, candidates are asked to "reject the devil" and "repent" of "sins." However, the Church of England's Liturgy Commission decided to remove these words in favor of more "culturally appropriate and accessible language." Now that Satan and sin have been removed, candidates will be asked to "reject evil, and all its many forms." This, presumably, will be so culturally accessible and appropriate that British atheists will be drawn to the church in droves and reverse the Church of England's drastically declining membership.

Goofy

The logic's simple and runs like this: the less there is to believe, the more people can believe. That's it, the Disbelief Gambit and it's beguiling, isn't it. If only the church lowered its membership requirements to reflect a disbelieving society then all the disbelievers will start going to church again.

Grinny

Anglicanism and just about every other Western denomination has been deploying the Disbelief Gambit for at least 30 years, in the hope that watered-down, anodyne, dumber and dumber liturgy and doctrine will somehow convert people. But convert them to what? To nothing? They already have that in the comfort of their homes, which is exactly where they've stayed instead of darkening the doors of our churches.

The Old Crook

Welby, who gained the nickname "Sharky" for his sharklike business acumen in plundering Nigerian oil while employed by Elf oil, seems intent on following the path of recent Archbishops, all in the hope of getting disbelievers into church by making the church disbelieving itself.